YOGA AND HANG GLIDING
Now that I have your attention, I confess I have no plan to merge yoga and hang gliding, other than in this sentence.
But I did take a hang gliding class!
While I have the upper arm bruises to prove I carried the thing around, it was definitely more 'haul' than 'flight'. This was last Saturday, the first truly and brutally hot day of the current heat wave. Our preternaturally perky hang gliding instructor remained optimistic that wind would happen but after 6 hours in the sun, the wind socks were as droopy as we were. I did more or less learn how to lift the kite and run with it. I enjoyed brief somatic glimpses—as I ran—into the almost lift off as the kite caught air and lifted itself, if not me.
It is humbling to try something totally new. The only thing I've ever piloted is a kite (the kind on a long string, not the hang gliding kind.) I haven't windsurfed, or even sailed other than as a passenger.
A dear friend invited me on this adventure, and she has had hang gliding on her bucket list for 20 years. My first reaction was a firm "no" because of my bummer shoulders, but we took a field trip the Saturday before to watch people learn, lift, stumble, fall, run and fly; some with hang gliders and others, para gliders. When you witness the moment a body understands its relationship to the kite and the air and the ground and speed, it takes your breath away. Just watching, I could sense exactly how that moment of lift off would feel.
And so, in a way, that was when I decided I was in, never mind my bummer shoulders. I want so badly to feel that moment when my feet float away from the ground. Earth is my element and always has been, but right now the thought of self-piloted flight fills me with elation. And hope.
I guess a little air time is in order in my life.
On the day of our lesson, the heat, the heavy air, the lack of wind made for a bust and a lot of bruises. The instructor finally sent us home unfledged but we were invited to come back another day and finish our introduction to the sport.
Hopefully, the wind deities will be with us when we return in a couple of weeks.
Hopefully the heat will ease.
I keep my own hope afloat, daily, that UVY will carry on, and I continue to shift our offerings to make yoga as accessible to you as possible. When you look below you will see that we now offer 2 outside classes on the weekend, one in Norwich and one in Thetford. I do hope you'll grab a friend and join us on the hills above Norwich or under the tent on Thetford Hill.
Stay cool, all. It is still a challenging time for most of us. I hope you are finding ways to keep your own hope afloat.
Love, Leslie
